How a child inspired his father

Most of the films made around themes surrounding children, end up being preachy. Sarthak, a feature film directed by Praveen Vyas and Jayanti Kundu is one of the rear films conveying a strong message without being self- righteous in its tone. 

The film Sarthak is a story that revolves around the struggle of a teen age boy from his home to the streets. As funny as it may sound, it is true that children of this generation are brought up in such an airtight sanitised environment that a majority of them have almost forgotten the way of survival in an unfriendly environment. 

Sarthak, the protagonist does not even know that the water he drinks is a natural element. His dependency on the luxuries provided by his parents is so crucial that the existence of everything else ceases to matter to him. Studies, sports, music, dance- every single thing that his parents want him to pursue seems utterly boring to him. The outside world is an alien entity for him. The lonelier he is, the safer he feels. So much so he covers himself behind a mask and thinks that others could not see him.         

Father, Kumar (Praveen Vyas) and Mother, Astha (Savita Yadav) are perturbed with Sarthak’s attitude. They do whatever they can to make Sarthak understand the reality of life. They want Sarthak to live a life of a normal child. However, Sarthak is too lazy to make any new efforts to show his interest in anything whatsoever. He has a place to hide himself and he is happy doing that. 

One day, just by chance, Sarthak comes across a boy Gopal (Geetansh Sharma) who lives in the nearby Jhuggi. Geetansh is a smart street stunt master. This is the first time that anybody catches his fancy. Sarthak is hooked. He follows Gopal. But that is not acceptable by Kumar and Astha who are class conscious. They just do not like the fact that Sarthak roams around with vagabond slum boys. They put a blanket ban on Sarthak association with any of these boys. 

But Sarthak, the master of his own, will continue to go out and do stunts what he feels like. Doing so causes him injury, but he does not care for that. He continues to disobey his parents. Now and then he steals money, lies and does everything that makes his parents seethe. However, such an ‘unholy’ alliance with slum dwellers transforms him. The film is a must-watch film for parents and the children alike.